Best Low Carb Chocolate Zucchini Cake – VIDEO

This low carb chocolate zucchini cake recipe is the best way to use up all that summer zucchini. Rich and moist, with a gorgeous chocolate glaze, it just may be the best keto chocolate cake recipe ever! Updated recipe with a how-to video. Dairy-free options too.

This low carb chocolate zucchini cake is so rich and moist, it makes me do the happy dance. I don’t get out much! My town just north of Boston isn’t the most exciting place to live. It’s what you might call a little sleepy. There isn’t much happening here and for a city kid who grew up around the hustle and bustle of downtown Toronto, it’s often too quiet. It’s a good location with a good school system for my kids, but I find it a bit too suburban for my tastes. There is one thing, however, that I absolutely adore about it, and that’s our really great farmer’s market. It’s a surprisingly good one, with a wide variety of vendors. It was brand new the first year we lived in the area, and it’s grown to be one of the more popular markets in all the surrounding towns. And now it extends well beyond the summer and into October.

How To Make Low Carb Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Because it’s New England, our growing season is short and our produce selection is more limited than other regions. We simply don’t have the climate for some of the more exotic fruits and vegetables. But it’s always so fun to see what the vendors have on offer and what changes through the season. Zucchini seems to grow really well in this climate. It’s been available since mid-July and it’s still going strong, so I pick up a few every time I go. I’ve had zero luck growing it myself, and it’s such an inexpensive, versatile ingredient. We eat a lot of it every summer, but my kids generally don’t like it unless it’s baked into something. There is just something about baked goods with zucchini that appeal to everyone.

Updated Recipe!

My kids hovered over me as I made this cake. They have a funny habit of doing that when I make any sort of low carb chocolate cake. We’ve now made this quite a few times and on this last go round, I decided to make it dairy-free so that I could share it with my neighbours. I used coconut oil for the batter and coconut milk for the chocolate ganache, and it tasted just as good as the original. I also modified it to make it easier and to use less bowls. Because this is such a delectably moist cake, I’ve found it doesn’t matter if you beat in the butter or oil or melt it and stir it in. Melting and stirring is easiest so I went with that. Life’s complicated enough, why make it even more so?

I highly recommend getting a good non-stick bundt pan, because they make any cake look more elegant. But you can always make it in a 9×13 pan too, or even 2 or 3 round layers. It would even make great low carb cupcakes (baking times will vary depending on what pan you use). It’s an incredibly versatile keto cake recipe, so sock this one away in your arsenal for when all that zucchini comes in!

Add the eggs, melted butter or coconut oil, vanilla extract and 1/2 cup almond milk. Add the drained zucchini and mix until well combined. If your batter is very thick add a few tablespoons additional almond milk at a time until it thins out. It should be spreadable but not pourable.

Spread batter in the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake 45 minutes or until set and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool in pan 15 minutes, and then flip out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Glaze:

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine cream or coconut milk and the sweetener. Bring to just a simmer, then remove from heat and add chopped chocolate and vanilla. Let sit 5 minutes and then whisk until smooth.

Pour over the top of the cake and let set.

Recipe Notes

If you do not own a bundt pan, bake the cake in a 9x13 pan. The baking time will change. Start with 30 minutes and check every 5 minutes after that.

Nutritional Disclaimer

Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program.I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them.I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.

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Comments

Hi Carolyn! I’m assuming you could leave out the cinnamon? Does this cake taste similar to your chocolate zucchini sheet cake that is in the low carb friends cookbook? I love that cake but would like the idea of making a bundt version.

HI! this may be a really stupid question. But, the unsweetened cocoa… does it come in different cacao percentages. The store I got mine from only had Hershey’s 100 % and Hershey’s Special Dark…. I made some lo carb mousse the other day and used only the recommended amount in the recipe, and swerve, but, it was REALLY bitter. Is that what you use in this recipe- the 100% cacao unsweetened cocoa powder?

Hi Angela…not a stupid question when things are labeled differently like that. But unsweetened cocoa should always be 100% cacao! I really like super dark chocolate and I typically use Hershey’s Special Dark (if you look right under the name, it also says 100% cacao). But I’ve never heard of mousse made with only cocoa powder, I prefer it made with melted unsweetened chocolate. Sounds to me like perhaps super dark recipes aren’t your thing and you should go at them with a lighter hand on the cocoa powder?

Thanks! No I actually really like dark chocolate, thinking maybe the recipes that I followed perhaps just need measurement adjustments with the sweetener? I just wanted to make sure on the cocoa as I have never baked with it before that, only with unsweetened Baker’s chocolate. 🙂

Would it work to substitute whole milk or cream in place of the almond milk, or would that change the flavor too much? This looks delicious and I’m anxious to try it. I used to make a chocolate zucchini cake (full of sugar and white flour of course) that also called for chocolate chips. Have you ever added chocolate chips to this cake?

cream or whole milk would be fine. It’s really about the liquid to dry ratio. And I’ve added chocolate chips to cakes LIKE this one so I know it would be fine. I typically don’t use commercial chocolate chips, but either make my own or chop some high % cacao chocolate.

OMG this looks chocolicious, Carolyn. I’ve been wanting a real, dar, chocolate cake, and all the LC chocolate cakes I’ve made to date weren’t dark enough to suit me. I’m gonna pull back the almond milk and add 1 T. each bourbon and stale, black coffee. I love to add those to chocolate cakes. They bring so much to the flavor table in chocolate desserts. 🙂

Another stupid question before I make this this weekend- you state stevia in the cake, but stevia extract in the glaze. Are BOTH in fact stevia extract, or is the one IN the cake the powdered form? Also ( I guess thats 2 questions) is the Stevia granular or confectioners ( I’m assuming the granular, but just want to double check) 🙂

Not stupid at all. Stevia extract (liquid) in both but you can sub in powdered if you like. Do you mean Swerve in the second question? It was granular in the cake and it will work better with powdered in the glaze but use granulated if you don’t have it.

I. am. so. excited. My daughter has type 1 (she’s 8), and I am always on the search for alternatives for her for special occassions, etc. I’ve ordered Swerve and can’t wait to try it – and I think with this cake!

I’m not sure what I did wrong, but this cake turned out dry with a bitter aftertaste and the glaze was a spectacular failure. The glaze was fine, if a bit too unsweetened, until I added the cocoa powder, and then it turned into a chunky mess that no amount of stirring or adding of fats could remedy. Unlike other zucchini cakes I’ve made, the batter was very thick, and there was virtually no rise. And the fine grating of the zucchini seemed to make it disappear a little too much. I could probably blame stevia for the bitter taste, but it was only 1/4 tsp. I baked at the correct temp and for the alloted time…any idea where I went wrong?

Sorry to hear it. What sweetener did you use besides stevia? If anything, this cake should be overly moist. Unfortunately, when it comes to gluten-free and low carb recipes, the brand you choose for almond flour, coconut flour and sweetener can make a difference. Did you use almond meal or almond flour? I know there has to be a difference here, because I’ve made this cake twice without issue.

As for the glaze, it sounds like your chocolate seized. Working with unsweetened chocolate is tricky…it doesn’t like too much heat and it seizes with extra moisture. Oddly enough, though, the best remedy for seized chocolate is continuing to add a bit more moisture and a bit more oil, 1 tbsp at a time, until it unseizes. Sounds counter-intuitive, but it works.

Yep, I’ve had chocolate seize before, so I knew to add fat…I added heavy cream, and even butter and it just would not come out of it. I used erythritol, which I ‘ve used before without problems. I can’t explain the glaze, but like Kelly, I did let the zucchini drain for quite a while…maybe it turns bitter if it sits for a long time?

I also baked this cake and it stucked to the pan, and it fell apart and the glazes was bitter. No one really liked it . I followed the recipe to a tee. I know I won’t be making this again. I will try the pizza next and I hope it turns out good. Some people may have had success with this but I didn’t . Sorry 🙁

I had the same experience as Brenda. I used Honeyville almond flour, Bob Red Mill coconut flour and Swerve for sweetner (other than stevia). The batter was unbelievably thick, so thick in fact that I ended up adding more almond milk (probably 2x), and it was still VERY thick. The cake was a little dry and a little bitter. (FYI…I didn’t have this problem when I made your other chocolate zuchinni sheet cake recipe from low carb friends book). The glaze seized up on me as well as soon as I added the cocoa powder. It was also bitter. So what do you add to unseize it? More butter? What liquid do you add?

Hmmm, I am stumped. Unless it’s the zucchini somehow and yours and Brenda’s was more dried out than mine. Because mine was very moist. I took copious notes for this recipe and I just checked them against what I wrote and it all looks good. I might have to test it for third time to see if I can re-create the issue. As for the ganache, I know it works because it also is a recipe I’ve used time and again, with slight variations. But since both you and Brenda had the same problem, I am going to lessen the amount of cocoa powder a bit. In future, you can add more butter or any oil (grapeseed works well) and pretty much any liquid…cream or water would be fine. 1 tbsp at a time, whisking until it thins out.

No, not at all, they behave completely differently. Almond flour has tons more fat in it. I’d actually suggest taking a similar, flour-based chocolate zucchini bread recipe and adapting that instead. Sorry, it’s just not a great substitution for this one!

Ok- so, I didnt get a chance to make this over the weekend and am still planning the baking of it. The area I live in is VERY limited as to healthy baking ingredietns so it took the weekend just to hunt it all down. One thing more I need to ask & I HOPE I am all set… I didn’t want to spend the $20- $30 each, average on a bottle of whey protein before trying this out and seeing if it was worth keeping on hand for possible future baking, so, I found a GNC that had 1-3 servings size of it- but only in chocolate, vanilla or strawberry. I bought a couple of the vanilla flavored and was wondering if that should be ok, and maybe omit the vanilla extract in ingredients? Or would you still put that in?

That sounds good, Angela. Also, some people said they had difficulty with the cake and the glaze. Do 3 cups of zucchini instead of 2 and don’t let it drain longer than an hour. I suspect that might help. For the glaze, hold back on the cocoa powder until you see how much it thickens. Do 2 tbsp, then decide whether it’s thick enough. If not, add another tbsp.

I had the same experience as Kelly and Brenda….the cake was so dry that it crumbled when served. I used honeyville almond flour, swerve, bob red mill coconut flour, etc. but I’m thinking that I pressed too much moisture out of the zucchini. The cake looked beautiful coming out of the oven, and when I snitched a pinch as it was cooling it was moist and delicious. But by the time it had cooled, it was the driest cake I’ve ever made! Bummer!!

Hi Carolyn, I was wondering how you felt about not salting and draining the zucchini whatsoever. I have added shredded zucchini and carrots to regular muffin recipes for my children before as a way of packing extra veggies into them. These were AP flour recipes however. I was wondering how this might affect the overall result in this particular recipe. Maybe help with some of the issues others reported? Thanks!

It might, but I’ve already adjusted the recipe to add more zucchini and to drain it less, to correct those issues. So I think you could do this, but I wouldn’t put in more than 2 cups of veggies and I would hold back on the added liquid until I saw the consistency of the batter. It should be thicker than regular flour batter (because almond flour batters already are). You should be able to spoon it into the pan but it wouldn’t be pourable…does that make sense?

Hey Carolyn, Just wanted to check in and say my cake turned out great! I didn’t salt and drain the zucchini. I added salt in with the dry ingredients and folded the zucchini in as the last step. Everyone loved it! Great recipe. Will make again. Thanks.

It looks so good but after the difficulties reported in all the comments I am afraid to waste the ingredients. Why would you even have to drain the zucchini. I would just peel the zucchini and grate it and add to recipe. Also, did you use almond meal instead of the flour. I noticed you didn’t use Bob’s almond flour. What is the difference? I think I will go and look at the zucchini chocolate bread instead and maybe I could put this glaze on it! I have so many ingredients that I want to buy to make your recipes, it takes time though. Thanks for all your work!

This was well worth the effort! The zucchini is drained because of all the liquid it produces,. If you follow the instructions closely, youll have an awesome , rich cake u wont even want to share! Lol. Or maybe thats just me. 🙂

me again! I just searched online for the difference between almond flour and meal and your post came up about all the questions about almond flour/ meal. Glad I found it! I came to find out that I have been using Bob’s and it says on the bag almond meal/flour. I am new to this so I didn’t even notice when I bought it at the grocery store. Your post said Honeyville was the best for real almond flour which means buying it online. Thanks Carolyn for all your work, bringing us good recipes, I never thought I’d be able to eat baked goods again now that I have to be gluten and sugar free.

I was so looking forward to trying this recipe. I hate to say this but it was a rather large disappointment and a waste of some expensive ingredients. I used Lucy’s Kitchen almond flour (which I have used in many bread, cake and cracker recipes before without a problem) coconut flour from Natural Grocers, and erythritol (NOW real foods brand) and Wholesome powdered stevia. The cake has scarcely any flavor, certainly not a sweet one. I even tasted the batter and doubled the amount of stevia. The texture is fine but my cake does not have the dark color in the photo (I used Scharffenberger cocoa.) I also more than doubled the amount of stevia (I used liquid stevia for this) here and added a dash of salt to balance it. I am sad as I was really hoping for something awesome. Other than the aforementioned alterations, I followed the recipe exactly and only made those changes I mentioned. Wondering where I went wrong.

It’s really hard to say what exactly went wrong but NOW erythritol is a lot less sweet than Swerve, in my experience and I can see how you’d need to add more stevia to make up for it. I’ve never used Lucy’s kitchen almond flour either, I honestly can’t say how that would behave. But I’ve had people say they found this recipe TOO sweet, so remember that sweetness is a matter of taste and every palate is different. So I suspect that just the variation in sweeteners and almond flour played the biggest role here. If you want a dark colour from your baked goods, Hershey’s Dark Cocoa powder is the way to go. It’s gluten-free too, I was happy to find out!

I had 2 cups of zucchini before I added the salt. after squeezing the water out, I have about 1 1/2 cups. Do I need to add more, or just have the 2 cups in the beginning? Also, I’m using xylitol/stevia (homemade) truvia. Would I still use the same amount as Swerve?

I made this recipe yesterday! Wow! Loved it! I am so grateful for your recipes, and for the fact that you share them! Chocolate zucchini cake is my very favourite cake and I was sad about having to lay it down to do THM. Thank you for an incredible recipe!

HI, I would like to know if the whey protein is essential or could be avoided. In case it is essential, is there something else I could use to substitute it? Thanks and great job! Lovely blog and recipes 🙂

Is there some other flour I can use to replace the Almond Flour? I am allergic to Almonds and Hazelnuts. I haven’t really started gungho on this diet yet because I feel so much has the nuts. I also have diverticulitis so a lot of seeds and nuts are out. any suggestions? Thank You.

this recipe looks amazing! Can almond flour be substituted with a non-nut flour? I have two grandchildren allergic to nuts, but would like to try the cake when they might be having I it with the family?

Made this recently. Didn’t want to spend $30.00 on a big container of whey protein but I found hemp protein powder while I was looking for it. Bobs Red Hemp protein powder 1 lb bag was around $11.00. And I can add it to smoothies. The cake turned out awesome. I greased my bundt heavily with pure butter. Took it out of the oven and set it on a cooling rack on my countertop, set the timer for 12 minutes, let it cool till then, and then set a plate on top and inverted to dump the cake out. It came out beautifully! So moist and yummy. In regards to chocolate seizing, don’t add cream, you’ll end up with ganache that way. Add oil, stir, heat, stir. If even a DROP of water gets in, your glaze is toast. Avoid getting your glaze wet at all costs! Thanks for a low carb cake that is heavenly!

Here’s what I think you should do. I think you should follow the recipe for the slow cooker chocolate cake but replace the 3/4 cup milk with the drained, shredded zucchini. Then add in just enough liquid to have a spreadable batter.

I made this cake and it turned out amazing!!!!! Best gluten free cake I’ve ever made. I used organic maple syrup in place of the Swerve and it was still sweet enough. Even my picky toddler gobbled it up and she knew there was zucchini in it!!!! Thanks for this recipe, it will be my go-to when we feel like making cake.

I just made this today. I had zucchini to use up and have been eating THM and my husband has hated all the desserts I’ve made (9!) but this? He LOVED. So did I! Super moist and yummy; love the hint of cinnamon. The glaze was a little bitter (I think it was my chocolate) so I added a little heavy cream and a tablespoon of natural peanut butter. Amazing! Thanks for all your yummy recipes. Going to make the zucchini ricotta recipe tomorrow!

I’ve been following your site for awhile & I just had to leave a comment about this recipe. I’ve made many of your delicious recipes, but this one is sooo YUMMY! I followed the recipe exactly except I just squeezed the moisture from the zucchini rather than wait for the salt to do it’s thing (mainly bc I’m impatient!) & it is so wonderfuly moist & delicious! Thank you for all your hard work & for taking the time to share with all of us!

This recipe is so versatile & delish! I did not follow precisely & turned out wonderful. I over baked it accidentally by 15 min. Not dry at all, dense but all is good. No bundt pan used an angel food pan, no dark cocoa powder used regular cocoa powder- what I had on hand. And forgot to add the liquid stevia. And sliced it then topped with a mocha frosting. It stores well in the refrigerator and I can’t believe I used 2 whole zucchini in this cake! Thank you Carolyn for another excellent recipe.

Just finished my first slice of this cake. It came out exactly like the picture and it is delish! I only had to cook mine for 40 mins. I’v had great success with all your recipes but this is the best cake of the GF / SF variety. Thanks for all you do for all of us.

I made this cake over the weekend and it is so moist and delicious. However, my glaze was very bitter and I followed the directions exactly and used the confectioners Swerve but was unsure what brand of unsweetened chocolate. I used Ghiradelli Unsweetened 100% Cacao. Did I use the wrong brand of unsweetened chocolate?

My husband recently got diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, I need to radically change my ways of cooking. I’m learning about low carb and sugar-free baking. Is it necessary to add whey protein powder? Can I leave it out or substitute for something else? We’re on a tight budget and after shopping for many new pantry staples, I’m unable to purchase the protein powder, the one I was looking at was over $20. I might buy it later in the future though. What brand of unsweetened chocolate did you use for the glaze? Can I also add raw cacao powder for the cake or unsweetened dark cocoa powder? Would monk fruit sweetener be okay for the cake instead of granular swerve? I’m so interested in trying your recipe, we have plenty of garden zucchini harvest and my family loves chocolate. This looks delish and the many other recipes you have. Thanks! 🙂

Great video, thanks for sharing! Now it makes sense. However, I use a lot of organic and non-GMO ingredients in baking. I try to avoid too much dairy, I can tolerate some but not all. Like I can do cheese, yogurt, etc. but not dairy ice cream. If I eat too much dairy, I get sick. I noticed you use Bob’s Red Mill whey protein powder, is that free from GMOs? I found goat whey protein powder online, woud that work? Also what brand of unsweetened chocolate did you use for the glaze? I usually like semi-sweet and semi-dark chocolate but I have to make everything sugar-free for my husband. I apprediate your time.

This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it! I am allergic to coconut. Do you have any suggestions as to what I can substitute for the coconut flour? Would you increase the almond flour by the same? Or the protein powder? Would I need to reduce liquid or egg? Thanks so much!

I’ve been making a flour chocolate zucchini cake for 20+ years. I actually don’t grate the zucchini fine, just shred in the processor and put in strainer. I squeeze it by hand just before stirring in batter. It’s made like a snack cake in a 9×13 pan with a sprinkle of chocolate chips and walnuts on top (no icing). Also 3 eggs, buttermilk, cinnamon and cloves. I am looking forward to trying your recipe just didn’t have enough swerve left. I want to try to do similar to my old recipe, thinking about adding vinegar to my cream? Had great success with your brownie cheesecake!

I followed the recipe to the letter and I have to say that this cake is so moist and it has an absolutely lovely texture! The ganache is heavenly. Thank you Carolyn for making it so much easier and more satisfying to live a Keto lifestyle. How can you say that you’re missing out on anything when you provide us with recipes like this! ??

This cake is the most amazing cake ever! Made it three times! Perfect every time! I don’t use any salt and I don’t squeeze out moisture. I just put a paper towel in the bottom of the container I use to store the grated zucchini in overnight in the frig and that’s it. This cake makes me not miss the one from the local bakery anymore! Thank you Carolyn!!! You Rock!

Almost your recipes call for Whey Protein Powder and since I am totally against adding extra protein to my diet can it be substituted by anything else such as flax seed meal or extra egg whites. If possible something easy to find.

In the absence of gluten, which is a protein itself, substituting another dry protein powder like whey or egg white protein helps the baked goods rise and hold their shape. I add no more than what is a single serving (scoop) of protein powder, which has about 18 to 20g of protein per scoop. This means that over a whole cake which serves 12 to 16, you are adding no more than one or two grams of protein to your daily diet.

However, if you choose to leave it out, I do not guarantee your results. Flax seed meal ALSO has protein and you’d be adding about 8g of protein with a similar amount of flax seed and it won’t have the proper consistency. And of course, adding egg whites also again adds protein and you’d throw off the liquid content of the batter and it would be a disaster.

Hi Carolyn, I made this cake for the first time 2 days ago. So nice, great texture and very moist. I can’t get Swerve, so I used erythritol and added a bit of liquid stevia, both in the cake and in the glaze. We really love this cake! Thanks again for all your recipes. I did get you cookbook for Christmas, and I love it too.

I just made this cake. and it turned out great. I did use more sweetener as I like it sweet. I tasted the cake batter before cooking it .I also used more zucchini, almost 3 cups and it was super moist. The glaze was a little loose and I did it in the microwave instead of the stove top. no problems with it. My husband loved it and this will now be my go to cake. thank you for the recipe.

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Looking for the best low carb recipes? You've come to the right place! I'm Carolyn, a major carnivore and an unrepentant sweet tooth. Here you will find all you need to enjoy the low carb keto lifestyle to the fullest! Read more